How Hurricanes Have Disrupted and Defined Past Elections

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In this Oct. 31, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama is greeted by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie upon his arrival at Atlantic City International Airport, in Atlantic City, N.J. Obama traveled to region to take an aerial tour of the Atlantic Coast in New Jersey in areas damaged by superstorm Sandy.

For some Florida residents, Hurricane Matthew may conjure up memories of another election-year storm that hit when a different Clinton was on the presidential ballot.

At the time, there was considerable hand wringing over the speed with which Bush's administration responded to the crisis. "Where in the hell is the cavalry on this one? For God's sake, where are they?" lamented Miami-Dade County's emergency operations director Kate Hale to reporters. The president's terse response from the Rose Garden was: "I'm not going to participate in the blame game."

Eventually, more federal resources were deployed to the Sunshine State and a New York Times/CBS News poll that September showed that a majority of Florida voters approved of Bush's handling of the disaster.